Today it is normal to adjust the signal processing parameters of a hearing aid for the individual patient by means of audiometric data defining the patient's hearing loss in a predefined frequency range, combined with a prescriptive amplification rationale which has proven suitable for the given patient's type of hearing loss. It is widely accepted that such a fitting will in most cases only give a rough estimate of the optimum hearing aid setting for the patient. It is therefore common practice subsequently to carry out a fine-tuning of the hearing aid's signal processing parameters in order to improve the sound quality as received by the patient. Such fine-tuning is normally based on subjective opinions expressed by the patient after using the hearing aid for some time. In this way it is possible to account in a rough way for the actual circumstances in which the patient spends time using the hearing aid. This approach relies on the dispenser to interpret the patient's description of specific listening situations, assess what acoustical or other features of those situations are causing difficulties, and specify appropriate alterations to the signal processing parameters of the hearing aid.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a method for fitting a hearing aid that is less time-consuming and more accurate than the previously known fitting methods.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device, which is suitable for use in a hearing aid fitting process according to the invention.